Botanical Gentrification

Situated in the north-western corner of Georgia, Abkhazia was once known as a prime holiday destination for the Soviet elite. The ornate railway station that once carried aristocrats to vacation homes has since been gentrified by thriving flora and fauna.

Abkhazia's battle for independence from Georgia since the collapse of the USSR has reduced the economy to ruins. The only things to thrive are the atmosphere of instability, Russo-Georgian rivalry for influence, and the vegetative takeover on abandoned infrastructure.

It would make for interesting Landscape Architectural experiment, in close coordination with Architecture, to design a system that intentionally allows this natural process of The World Without Us landscape succession to occur. The deliberate “overgrowth” could eventually become means of structural support and a by allowing the wild in, creating a true interconnection between ecosystem and architecture.